BOSTON -- Forty-nine players were selected in the 2011 NBA draft before Lavoy Allen. That includes seven who didn't play a minute in the league this season.

After the 76ers' 82-81 win over the Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, you would have been hard-pressed to find any teammate who'd rather have any other person taken in the draft ahead of Allen. Not on this night.

After giving the Sixers a big effort in a losing cause in Saturday night's opening game of the best-of-seven series, Allen was even more integral as the Sixers evened the series.

Advertisement

His numbers are good, if nothing eye-popping -- 10 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 30 minutes. But it was one shot in particular and one assignment especially that made Allen perhaps the most important player on the court.

The shot came after the lead the Sixers held for most of the second half vanished on a Kevin Garnett bucket that tied it at 65 with 4:33 remaining. The Celtics were rabid defensively on the next possession, and a Lou Williams shot attempt was blocked out of bounds with .9 second on the shot clock.

The inbound pass went to Allen, who heaved up a desperation 22-footer ... and it banked in.

Needless to say, Allen said it was the biggest shot of his playing career. As for whether he called glass on that shot ...

"Hmm ... I don't remember," he said. "I think I did."

The shot helped keep the Sixers above water, but so did Allen's defense. After thoroughly outplaying Boston's incredibly pedestrian backup frontcourt tandem of Ryan Hollins and Greg Stiemsma, Allen locked horns with Garnett down the stretch and played the Hall-of-Famer to at least a draw.

"He is a tough cat," Evan Turner said of Allen. "He's hard to move. Every time you bump into him, it feels like your body gets a headache. He's not an easy customer."

In a game decided by one point, the Sixers were plus-21 with Allen on the floor.

"Game 1 he got a lot of open jump shots," Allen said of Garnett and his strategy against him. "This game, he was trying to do more in the post, so I was trying to push him off the blocks and post up farther away from the basket."

Garnett only played 15 minutes in the first half, and it seemed obvious Celtics coach Doc Rivers was trying to conserve his energy for crunch time. It didn't work out the way he wanted.

"Regardless of whether he played a lot in the first half, in the fourth quarter he was going to give it his all," Allen said. "So you have to be ready.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity."

And a lot of teams regret passing on the opportunity to draft him 10 months ago.